At the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai, Musk said that computers will one day surpass humans in “every single way”, while Ma argued that humans will continue to be in control, CNBC reported on Thursday.

As evidence of progress in AI, Musk referred to advances in chess as well as the Chinese board game of Go.

Talking of Neuralink, a start-up he co-founded which is creating brain-on-a-chip, Musk said the technology from the company could help people enhance cognitive capabilities with brain-machine interfaces.

In July, Neuralink unveiled tiny brain “threads” in a chip which is long-lasting, usable at home and has the potential to replace cumbersome devices currently used as brain-machine interfaces.

The chip which will be wireless in the future can read, transmit high-volume data and amplify signals from the brain.

The Alibaba Chairman argued that it is “impossible” for machines to control humans.

Countering Musk on the superiority of technology on playing chess or Go, Ma said that these games were designed to pit one individual against another, not an individual against a machine.